Midnight Special Law Collective

Action Legal Team Materials

These materials cover the basic steps to form an effective legal team for a mass action. We cover topics such as: how to set up an action legal office, coordinating information, what to research, coordinating with the local legal community, trainings, roles, etc.

Legal Support for a Small Action

[ odt | doc | pdf ]
This is the handout for our Small Action Legal Support training., and is oriented towards folks supporting actions with fewer than 50 arrests. It covers roles of legal support, basic office setup, how to deal with emergencies, lawyer handling, and other tips for providing successful, sustainable legal support.

Setting Up an Action Legal Team

[ rtf | pdf | html ]
This document was created to help organizers form an effective legal team for a mass action. It is a general overview of places to begin discussion and work. We briefly discuss questions to consider, dealing with lawyers, issues to flag, trainings, volunteers, and legal research. (1 page)

Legal Team Action Roles

[ rtf | pdf | html ]
This document is a description of the various roles that need to be filled during an action in addition to answering phones. We cover office roles - Information Coordinator, Media Flak, and Office Elf - as well as roles outside the office - on the streets, jail visits, arrestee outtake, at arraignments, and negotiation. (3 pages)

Office Setup

Phone Script

[ odt | doc | pdf]
This document is for volunteers to use as a guide while answering phones. We cover calls from jail, from the street, from the media, and from concerned family members. We also outline how to relay key information to core collective members. (5 pages)

Arrestee Intake Form

[ ods | xls | pdf ]
This form is to collect information from arrestees for the office file. (1 page)

Arrestee Outtake Form

[ ods | xls | pdf ]
This form is to collect information from arrestees when they get out of jail, to help organize legal support. (1 page)

Organizing Mass Defense

[ rtf | pdf | html ]
This is an overview of the different work that can go into legal support if you are taking a large number of political cases to trial. A lot of these things can be done before arrests occur to help lay the groundwork for effective legal support. (3 pages)

Legal Support Person

[ odt | doc | pdf ]
This handout is geared for activists, not the legal team. It covers how to be the legal support person for your affinity group and a form for people to fill out before the action. (1 page)

Obligatory disclaimer: We cannot give out legal advice. The information herein is what the law says. For all legal questions you need to contact a lawyer. The information posted on this site was collected from various sources and we cannot be held liable for it.